Name/Title
Joseph Gunnison House | 11 Boynton Street, Eastport, Maine | I7-0C4-02 | District #98Entry/Object ID
098Description
This wide steep pitched roof house is known as the Gunnison house and was built in 1849 It stands at the top of Boynton Hill a block from Eastport's downtown and waterfront. The house narrowly escaped destruction from the Great Fire of October 14, 1886 and is the first house on Boynton Street to have survived the fire. The fire destroyed buildings across the street from it and just east of it. The house has a gable roof and covered and partially enclosed porch on the east side where the entrance to the house is. It has a four bay front facade facing the street with four double hung windows on the first floor and three double hung windows on the second floor. The building’s exterior is very largely intact from when it was first built. Joseph Gunnison, for whom the house is named, was born in Buxton Maine in 1799 and came to Eastport in 1815. He was a partner In the firm of Bucknam and Gunnison that was extensively engaged in trade and he later moved to Saint John, New Brunswick to carry on the same business. He returned to Eastport in 1842 and established the first express running between Boston and this section, In 1849, he was appointed surveyor of the port of Eastport. He was first elected as a representative to the Maine Legislature in 1853.
From Kilby's Eastport and Passamaquoddy (1888):
At the election in 1853, Joseph Gunnison, Esq., Whig, was chosen the twenty-fourth representative of the town. He was son of Elisha and Betsey (Rounds) Gunnison, born at Buxton, May 10, 1799. He first came to Eastport in 1815, and was employed as clerk in a store. Afterward, as partner in the firm of Bucknam & Gunnison, he was extensively engaged in trade, and later carried on business at St. John, N.B., and at Magaguadavic. Returning here, he established in 1842 the first express running between Boston and this section, and continued in that business through many years. In 1849, he was appointed surveyor of the port of Eastport by President Taylor, and continued a full term. After the election of President Lincoln, he was appointed an inspector of the customs at Eastport, and died while holding that office, June 2, 1874. He served a second term in the legislature.
Information from Hugh French (2024): Owner of this house, Joan Stuart Sullivan, once told me that the house was built in 1849.
